Coal catches fire in bunker

BY ALYSSA MEIEREditor
Burning coal was being carefully extracted from one of Coal Creek Station’s 16 lignite storage bunkers Tuesday after a hot spot was discovered inside.
Employees at Great River Energy’s Coal Creek Station near Falkirk discovered a hot spot Tuesday morning at the top of a coal storage bunker on site. Washburn and Underwood Fire Departments were called to the site and were on stand by for a couple of hours until a plan was devised.
“They are currently removing the coal,” GRE spokesman Lyndon Anderson said just after noon on Tuesday. “They are drawing the coal down, feeding it to the mill or pulverizers that grinds the coal. From there it goes to the boiler to be burned.”
Anderson said putting fire retardant in the silo can generate dust and cause an explosion, so extracting the coal was the safest option. He said wet coals were being added to the bunker to stabilize its contents and cool down remaining coal.
Anderson said officials will be inspecting the bunker to determine the cause of the incident, though he suspected nothing unordinary would be found.